Most vehicles in North America as well as world-wide have some area devoted to cargo storage, carrying, etc. Additionally, many vehicles (particularly sedan-type vehicles) contain some storage area for a spare tire, often within the trunk of the vehicle. The space designed for such storage has traditionally been made of stamped steel sheet formed to hold these items (such as a spare tire, jack, etc.) and attached to the vehicle white body by means of welding. Recently, with an increased emphasis on vehicle light-weighting, many vehicle parts traditionally made of steel are being replaced with other materials such as aluminum and plastic. One such part is the spare tire well of sedan-type vehicles. Several vehicle manufacturers have recently begun making these spare tire wells out of molded plastic.
Attaching non-steel parts to the vehicle white body can present numerous technical challenges compared to traditional fastening methods for metal-to-metal connections. Mechanical attachments such as bolts, screws, or rivets are possible, but such methods present challenges for non-metal parts in terms of long-term durability of the attachment due to various concerns, such as from heat and continuous loading. Such conditions can potentially cause premature failure of the connections due to torque loss from creep in the non-metal material. Such concerns can potentially be alleviated by using metal collars inserted into the fastening area of the non-metal part to ensure metal-to-metal contact between the fastener and the vehicle body. One alternative fastening method involves the use of adhesives to bond the non-metal part to the metal structure. However, this method is often time consuming and causes significant changes to the manufacturing environment that may be expensive and/or time consuming for the vehicle manufacturer.